European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 18, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 28 the stars and stripes wednesday december 18, 1985 army of overturn 1,621 drug sanctions san Antonio Texas a eighteen months after starting an unusual appeals program the army and air Force have overturned disciplinary sanctions against 1,621 current and former servicemen accused of illegal drug use. The sanctions were imposed in 1982 and 1983. Spokesmen for the two services said 2,817 other appeals arc under consideration As a result of the program which was started in june 1984 in line with the recommendations of a special commission headed by maj. Gen. David Ein Sci. Thai panel concluded urine tests Given to servicemen Between april 1982 and november 1983 were not scientifically or legally supportable for disciplinary purposes. According to Elaine Hon Ripe an army spokeswoman at the Pentagon the commission found that the tests which detect whether an individual is using marijuana or cocaine were performed properly. But the commission also concluded that because of the Way samples were handled anal a second confirmation test performed the results could not be defended legally. Both the army and air Force say they have since tight ened up their testing procedures to ensure for example that lawyers can document who handles a urine Sample every step of the Way. According to . Perdue spokesman for Brooks fab in Texas the panel also recommended several changes in standards including an increase in the amount of Trace chemicals of marijuana that must be detected in urine for a positive Sample. The cutoff is at such a level so that a person in a room where marijuana is smoked won t show As a positive Perdue said. But the person who actually smoked it will show As the  the vast majority of the servicemen contacted by the two services who were tested during the 1982-1983 time period have failed to respond to notices advising them of their right to Appeal. The army for example sent out More than 46,000 notices and received Only 4,747 appeals Henrion said. Of the army cases completed 1,404 current or former soldiers were granted full or partial Relief from their disciplinary sanctions which ranged from fines and demotions in rank to discharges or bars to re enlistment. More than 300 appeals were denied she added and 2,664 cases Are pending. . Col. Michael Gallagher a spokesman for Randolph fab in Texas said 217 Active duty air Force personnel out of 458 whose test results were set aside had applied for and won appeals. The cases of 200 of 1,993 former air Force members arc being considered he said. According to Perdue. Brooks performs about 250,000 drug tests per year on urine samples from air Force or army personnel. The tests Check for marijuana and on a random basis the samples arc checked for other drum such As cocaine or amphetamines. Other drug testing was performed at Tripler army medical Center in Hawaii at the Wiesbaden army base in Germany and at fort Mcado my. The Pentagon s drug testing program became the subject of controversy last year fuelled in part by publicity Over the air Force s handling of a Case involving Cpl Edward o. Pearson. Pearson a former Pilot assigned to a b-52 Squadron was charged in 1983 with using marijuana on the basis of a urine Sample. He denied the allegation and decided to Challenge the testing procedures on grounds the Laboratory personnel could not show that his Sample had not been confused with someone else s. The air Force eventually dropped its charges against Pearson and he resigned Wito an honorable discharge earlier this month. Dod from Page 1 program of the uniformed services. Champs is budgeted at about $1.5 Mil lion this year double what it Cost five years ago. The program pays 75 percent to 80 per cent of the Cost of care that eligible retirees and family members receive from civilian pro viders. Mayer said that about 25 percent of the care sought by retirees and family Mem Bers is sought from civilian doctors. Retirees and family members who want care they cannot get in military clinics Over seas can get it through champs hous ton worthy a spokesman at the Organiza Tion s Colorado office said. War they said that despite any language problems beneficiaries often go on the Economy when there is no space available at the clinics. Champs operates offices in Heidel Berg to serve Europe Africa and the Mediterranean and in Honolulu to serve the Pacific he said. The main difference in the rules overseas is that beneficiaries must be 40 air Miles not driving Miles from a military treat ment facility if they wish to seek civilian treatment without obtaining a statement that the care is not available from the clinic. In the United states the requirement is based on zip code areas. Worthy said that retirees Are especially Likely to be Able to negotiate the language difficulties. Retired servicemen Are often married to local women he said. It s a common Ria san to retire Over there. They be Learned the language along the  according to the latest Pentagon tally sept. 30, 515,000 of 2.1 million Active duty . Military members Are assigned Over seas. As of last March the defense depart ment had More than 91,000 civilian employees overseas and More than 390,000 members of military and civilian employee families there. Active duty military members Are entitled to free medical care at military clinics and Are accorded first priority there. Their family members retirees and retirees family members Are treated on a space available basis. Under Mayer s initiative the Pentagon would seek bids next fall from Large insurance companies and Hospital groups that want to set up a network of health care providers to cover the population now served by champs. A concept paper from Mayer s office says retirees and family members might not have to pay even the 20 percent to 25 per cent of costs that they Bear under Cham pus. The initiative is part of Mayer s desire to have military treatment facilities provide More of the care they might have to provide on the Battlefield. He would like to see retirees and family members choose to take Runny noses and similar problems to civilian doctors. The Pentagon tuns about 500 treatment facilities including 168 hospitals. The sys tem accommodates about i million inpatient and 56 million outpatient visits a year. Mourners from Page 1 Jones cult who committed suicide in Guyana in 1978. Meanwhile in Gander Newfoundland the chief investigator into the crash of a chartered dc-8 that killed 256 american soldiers and Crew members says it May take a year or More to determine the cause. A big problem is a Large portion of the aircraft was consumed by fire and it s just not there said Peter Boag the Canadian aviation safely Board s investigator in charge. Boag 32, said the 40-Membcr investigating team will look closely Over several months at the aircraft pieces reams of documents and transcripts of interviews. Once investigators finish their work the safety Board will hold Public hearings. More investigation could follow with the Board finally announcing its findings including the cause of the crash. A year is a reasonable period of time Boag said talking in his makeshift office in the vip lounge of Gander International Airport about half a mile North of the snowy crash site. People want to know Why right away Boag said. You can t determine the Why until you determine what  the cause will emerge slowly he said unless you re extremely Lucky and get the Golden Nugget right  speculation has focused on such possibilities As iced wings weight problems or Sud Den reverse thrust by one of the engines. We re not focusing on any particular cause at this particular time Boag said. Also at monday s briefing he disclosed that the plane s flight data recorder or Black Box had yielded important de tails of the Speed and path of the Arrow air charter s Brief flight. The Lane achieved an adequate Speed on Takeoff 190 Mph but suddenly veered 20 degrees to the right and steadily slowed Down until it crashed seconds after liftoff. Congress from Page 1 voice vote to the consumer product safety commission and former sen. James Buck Ley a new York Republican As a Federal judge by 84-11. The House approved legislation permit Ting former White House chief of staff Hamilton Jordan to seek reimbursement of $66,553 in attorneys fees incurred during a 1979 investigation of cocaine Possession allegations against him. Jordan was cleared of wrongdoing in the Case. Despite the lapse in spending authority for agencies such As the Pentagon Treasury and Interior departments officials ordered no immediate shutdown of services. White House spokesman Larry Speakes said if no interim Bill were passed by wednesday non essential Federal workers would be told not to report to work. House officials meanwhile said several factors were to blame for the 239-170 rejection monday night of the Long term spend ing Bill. Liberal democrats were angry Over a Large increase in defense spending in a time of fiscal austerity republicans were concerned about a provision that could pave the Way for a congressional pay raise in 1987, and administration officials preoccupied with the tax fight never indicated a firm position on the measure to gop Law makers. They the administration had it right on the one Yard line and they fumbled said rep. Silvio o. Conle r-mass., the top Republican on the House appropriations committee. Republicans voted 119-55 temperatures december l l h 2 35 34 49 to 31 � so j7 45 11 it 35 42 23 a -3 18 37 37 19 w 23 29 14 54 34 43 19 33 27 11 74 32 37 57 16 47 13 20 17 27 -7 6 -13 -4 23 it i 0 46 52 19 35 30 57 29 m 32 64 Albany Albuquerque Anchorage Alln la Allan la Colv Baltimore  Boise Boston Buffalo Burt Englon Charleston . Charleston . Chicago Cincinnati Cleveland Dallas Forl world Denver Dei Molnes Detroit Fairbanks Faroo Hartford Honolulu Houston Indianapolis Jacksonville Kanus cell Las vegas l h30 54 it n 71 43 25 s3 43 74 -4 3 to a 27 52 30 41n a n 49 16 25 47 63 31 45 2 33 19 33 27 40 20 39 23 49 it 45 19 38 46 57 ii 29 51 71 42 62 35 44 22 32 37 67 21 46 26 41 la Lyle Rock Louisville Memphis Miami Beach muts is. Paul Nas vim new Orleans new York Colv Norfolk Oklahoma City Omaha Orlando Philadelphia Pittsburgh Portland Maine Portland Ore. Providence Ranhoff Reno St. Louis is. Petersburg sail Lake City san Diego san Francisco Seattle Syracuse Tucson  we Chilli european weather forecast for wednesday Cloudy Iofel Wolfi fog and occasional Drinkle in Benelux Central and  Germany Northern and Southeastern Germany a have Clouds me. And occasional rain. He pal it Peri lure. Mid to upper 4�h. Low upper 30 to Tow 40v Sun Al wednesday 4 14. Lun lit thursday 821. Outlook Lor thursday continued Cloudy skies with fog occasional Kohl rain in Northern Germany a lotto chaw in res. Temperatures recorded to 4i Adana p Amsterdam 3 Athens m Aviano m Berlin cd Bremerhaven cd Brussels cd im4pm 45 60 48 48 50 57 77 38 46 40 43 47 46 48 jes Dav 4 coot Haoen cd Frankfurt it London a Madrid f Munich cd Paris m Rome p am 4pm 3v �44 4ft 4 n 30 h 43 41 45 41u m provided by dal 13, 7lh weather 5q, Tro Bacri. Other worldwide temperatures High Low Cairo r 70 54 Montreal l Dublin it 57 43 Moscow cd Helsinki f 25 5 Oslo it Jerusalem r 57 48 Toronto l Lisbon f 59 43 Vancouver it Steilow 21 a w n n 25 i 45 m against the Bill. There were other irritants in the huge Bill including a provision to Cut off Federal Highway Aid to any states that did not raise the Legal drinking age to 21. That affected Vermont Wisconsin and Louisiana and the vote in those three delegations combined was 13-3 against the measure. I m going to recommend that we adjust these things said rep. Jamie Whitlyn d miss., chairman of the House appropriations committee. The Short term measure approved by the House was amended to bar the synthetic fuels corp. From obligating any funds a provision also contained in the Long Ter Bill. The Agency had been expected to award j184.3 million in Federal loan and Price guarantees for an Oil shale project in Utah but the meeting was cancelled. Supplied by the associated Preu. Of far cd it oud a mostly of buoy a part of buoy if Tott a Rains Snow. Shultz blasts Yugoslavia Belgrade Yugoslavia a Secretary of state George p. Shultz slammed his hand Down on the table tuesday As the yugoslav foreign minister sat beside him then criticized his Host government for let Ting a Plo suspect in the Achille Laura hijacking pass freely through his country. Shultz said at a news conference he expressed disappointment during meetings with yugoslav leaders that Plo official Mohammed Abbas accused by the United states of masterminding the oct. 7 ship hijacking was not detained while in Yugo Slavia. Abbas was aboard an egyptian air liner with the four other palestinians when . Navy planes forced it to land oct. 11 in Sicily. The four were detained but Italy allowed Abbas to leave for Yugoslavia